


Mutually Beneficial Friendship

by Justyce_15



Category: Nightwing (Comics), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Both have relationship issues, Dedicated to Adam West, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick and Kara are Best Friends, Everybody loves Dick, Except Mon-El, F/F, F/M, Happy Ending, Identity Reveal, It makes me so happy that's a tag, Kara pining without realizing it, Lena pining, Maggie will make the best sister-in-law, Mon-El (Supergirl TV 2015) Being an Asshole, Vague references to abusive relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 13:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11185797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justyce_15/pseuds/Justyce_15
Summary: Kara is having relationship issues with Mon-El, when her old friend Dick Grayson shows up out of nowhere with barely any explanation. Dick helps Kara realize her problems, while Kara sees if she can return the favor.





	Mutually Beneficial Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this because there's a resurgence of the idea that a man and a woman can't be friends without the man wanting to sleep with the woman. I have an incredible amount of problems with this idea, first off, incredibly misogynistic and very heteronormative. So I wanted to refute that idea, and came up with two characters that I thought would be bffs, Supergirl and Nightwing. They both are essentially universally beloved by anyone with a soul in their own universes. I also used this as an excuse to write SuperCorp, but they are amazing! Seriously, I am not nice to Mon-El in this fic, if you like him and don't want to be offended, I suggest you stop reading. I make some references to both events in the current Nightwing book and the Superwoman book. I highly recommend reading Grayson Vol. 1: Agents of Spyral by Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin, as well as Nightwing Vol. 1: Better than Batman by Tim Seeley and Javier Fernandez (which you should read after finishing Grayson) and Superwoman Vol. 1: Who Killed Superwoman? by Phil Jimenez, Jack Herbert and Emanuela Lupacchino.

 

Kara Danvers may be a reporter and a superhero, but she considered herself a friend first. She has friends all over the country, even the planet. Perhaps it has something to do with her bubbly, sunshine infused personality, but it’s really hard not to love her. There aren’t a lot of  people out there like Kara Danvers.

“Kara!” Mon-El, Kara’s Daxamite boyfriend, shouted from the kitchen of Kara’s apartment, “I have to go! Winn wants talk at the DEO.”

“Okay,” Kara shouted from the shower, “I’ll join you tonight. I’m having lunch with Lena today.”

“Really?” he groaned, “You just had lunch with her yesterday!”

“Am I not allowed to have lunch with my friend two days in a row?” Kara yelled, “It’s just lunch.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Mon-El grumbled, closing the door and locking it behind him.

Kara finished and got out of the shower. She checked her phone on the side of sink. 10:12 am. There was a flash of panic before she remembered it was saturday, and she didn’t have to worry about being late for work. She didn’t have to worry about Snapper hounding her for “dawdling.” Relief washed over her and she took a deep breath, running her hands through her golden locks. 

Once she finished drying herself, she left the bathroom and dressed for the day. The sun shown through her window into the living room/kitchen. She walked over to the counter and warmed up a couple of the leftover pancakes that Mon-El had made this morning. She took one bite and nearly barfed. Making a Kryptonian barf was not an easy feat, but it was something Mon-El had started to achieve regularly since he had learned cooking for your girlfriend was the “chivalrous” thing to do.

“I keep telling him to use sugar instead of salt,” Kara grimaced. She had thought it was cute the first time he had made her breakfast. One mistake was forgivable, even two or three, but six times in less than a week and a half was pushing it.

She walked over to the fridge and opened it up searching for something to eat. There were three eggs, a few slices of leftover pizza, and a big jug of Orange Juice that was almost empty. She made a mental note to go the grocery store after meeting with Lena. She went with the eggs and grabbed the carton out of the fridge. Eggs weren’t quite pancakes, but they were better than nothing, and they should tide her over until lunch.

She cracked the shells over a bowl and then used her speed to whip the eggs down into a near liquid. She then poured the eggs down onto a pan over the griddle. Over the years she had perfected the art of using her powers for cooking, especially using her heat vision to heat things up. Eggs took the longest time to perfect, she had to use just the perfect amount. Too much would turn them to ash, while too little would just make them a pile of mush. After heating them up and flipping them over a couple times, she dropped them onto a plate and plopped herself on the couch behind the TV.

She had three episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine she hadn’t gotten around to watching that she was greatly looking forward to. She turned on the television and flipped to her DVR, selecting the earliest episode she had yet to watch. Her phone beeped and she scrambled to pick it up. It was a text from Lena

 

LENA: Hey, I’m running a little late. Could we maybe push it to 12:15?

LENA: Sorry :(

 

Kara quickly typed out a reply.

 

KARA: Of course. :)

KARA: No need to apologize!

 

Kara tossed her phone to the side and continued to watch Television. After a few minutes, there was a knock on her door.

“Coming!” Kara shouted. Kara paused the tv and ran over to the door, opening it to reveal her old friend, Dick Grayson, “Dick!” she nearly squealed, wrapping him in a large, tight hug. She finally released him after a few seconds, and closed the door behind him. Dick had a small backpack slung over his back, but nothing else. He took a second to get his breath back.

“Kara, I love you,” Dick said, “but you need to remember that the rest of us are not invulnerable. Your hugs can literally crush bones.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just excited,” Kara apologized, blushing slightly. She would be lying if she said she had never had even the slightest crush on him. And he would be lying if he said that he had never had even the slightest crush on her. It was an unspoken thing between the two of them, but both of them had moved on from the childhood crushes. They grew out of it. “It’s been… what? Almost two years?”

“Yeah,” Dick said, smiling back at her, “And you have been really busy. It’s impressive. It really is. I mean the amount of work you’ve been able to do in less than two years.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it impressive,” Kara responded.

“Kara.” Dick deadpanned. “I watch the news. Impressive is kind of underselling it if we’re completely being honest.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment,” Kara said, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well, I thought I’d come out and see you. And Bruce flagged somebody coming here to sell Venom. The sale is going down tonight at 10:30.” Dick sidestepped the question. Kara noticed this but decided not to push the issue.

“Why don’t you sit down, you have to fill me in on what’s going on back east. Tell me how everyone is. How’s Babs?” Kara asked. Dick winced for a fraction of a second. If she didn’t have superspeed, Kara would not have noticed it. They proceeded to sit down on the couch. Kara ran her dishes over to the sink before returning.

“She’s good. Bruce is good. Everybody’s great.” Once again, Kara could tell that Dick was avoiding something, but she didn’t press the issue. Dick changed the subject anyway. “Any how have you been? How’s CatCo without Cat Grant? How’s Alex and the DEO?”

“You know about the DEO?” Kara asked.

“Kara, I trained under the world’s greatest detective,” Dick said, “I know about all the secret government agencies. DEO, DMA, Checkmate, Spyral, you name it.”

“How did everyone know about them except for me?” Kara asked rhetorically. “But no, everything’s great, James took over CatCo.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Dick said, “Good for him.”

Kara continued talking about the events of the last two years in depth, while Dick interspersed them with some personal anecdotes. This went on for nearly two hours, until Kara arrived at Alex’s revelation that she was gay and her new relationship with Maggie.

“I knew it,” Dick said, “But seriously, congratulations to her. And what was her name? Maggie?” Kara nodded. “That’s great, I’m really happy for her. And it sounds like Maggie is great for her.”

“Yeah, she is.” Kara glanced at the clock. It was 12:07 pm.

“You got somewhere you need to be?” Dick asked, noticing Kara’s habitual glances.

“Yeah, I got lunch with Lena in about 8 minutes,” Kara said, “It’s just down the street, I’ll be fine.” A thought popped into her head, “You know what, you should come---,”

“Lena Luthor?” Dick cut her off.

“Yes.” Kara said cautiously, “Don’t tell me you have a problem with her too. Trust me you’ll love her!”

“Yeah…” Dick answered, “My issue isn’t really me liking her, it’s more on the side of I don’t think she really wants to see me.”

“Why?” Kara asked.

“Well, Bruce and Lex grew up in the same circles,” Dick explained, “And Bruce always thought that Lex was insane. Even before all the… you know. And Bruce may or may not have tried a secret hostile takeover of LuthorCorp after Lex was in jail. And even beyond that, Bruce was not kind to the Luthor family just as a rule.”

“Hey, that’s just water under the bridge.” Kara said.

“It’s not so much water as it’s a fucking tsunami.” Kara winces at his expletive.

“Please!” Kara pouted.

Dick put his head in his hands, sighing.

“God, why am I friends with you?” Dick mumbles.

“Because you’re amazing and I’m amazing and it just made sense.” Kara shrugged.

“Alright,” Dick stood up, “Let’s go up before I change my mind.” Kara stood up went to put on some shoes. “By the way, I like this new confident Kara Danvers.”

“Thank you,” Kara said, “I like her too.”

 

Lena Luthor was not having a good day. She had awoken late, despite the thirty seven alarms she had set (okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration), to the news that L-Corp stocks had tumbled again because of Cadmus’ attack last night. And on top of that, another scathing article had been published by Fox News, calling her a “uncompromising, mean, emotionless, robotic bitch” because she wasn’t currently dating anybody. She’s used to all the personal attacks her name and status brought her, but that didn’t make it any easier for her.

There was only one bright spot (pun intended) in Lena’s life, and she was about to have lunch with her. She was glad to have Kara Danvers in her life, really she was, it was great having a friend, especially a friend that wore a cape and the S-shield, not that Kara knew Lena was aware of her double life. She was happy that she had an hour where she didn’t have to worry about L-Corp’s stock prices or her public image. That’s why Lena was disappointed with what she saw coming into the restaurant.

“I’m just saying it’s unexpected!” Dick Grayson. Lena knew him, but only summarily, but why he was talking to Kara Danvers as they walked into Noonan’s was a mystery to her.

“But it’s a kid’s show!” Kara said, clearly exasperated.

“EXACTLY!” Dick said, “how many kid’s shows do you know of that have had a gun control episode?”

“Kara!” Lena said, choosing to ignore the billionaire orphan she was talking to. She waved her friend over.

“Lena!” Kara stopped the conversation and rushed over, wrapping a tight hug around her friend. “How have you been?”

“I’m assuming you haven’t seen the news?” Lena said, after escaping Kara’s hug.

“Lena, that’s your company,” Kara said, “I’m asking about you.”

“I’m okay,” Lena said, earnestly, still dodging the issue, “We’ve weathered worse, we’ll get through this.”

“Oh by the way,” Kara said, pointing to Dick, “This is Dick Grayson, he’s a childhood friend. Eliza and Jeremiah worked for WayneTech for a few years.”

“Ms. Luthor,” Dick politely held out a hand. Lena took it, they stared each other down for a few seconds.

“We’ve met.” Lena said curtly. 

“I ran into him today,” Kara said, “I told him you wouldn’t mind if he joined us for lunch today.”

“If I’m intruding I can just leave,” Dick said, “It’s completely fine.”

Lena opened her mouth to respond, but Kara, deciding it was more important that they try to be friends, and answered for her.

“It’s completely okay,” Kara said.

“Look, Ms. Luthor,” Dick said, “I know that Bruce and Lex were never friends. And I know that Bruce tried to take over LuthorCorp while you were being ushered in as CEO, and I know he hasn’t been… polite about your family. But I’m hoping we can put that aside, because I’m not Bruce and you’re not Lex. I’m not saying we have to be best friends, but I think we can at least afford to be civil today. I trust Kara’s judgement, and if she says you’re a great person, than I know it has to be true.”

Lena and Kara both stared at Dick, open-mouthed. Lena wasn’t quite sure what she expected from him, but this was most certainly not it. She had heard stories about Grayson, that he was suave and charming, that nearly everybody loved him, but Lena had an uncanny ability to find a reason not to like somebody that everybody loved. Kara was the first person that had proved difficult for her to find a weakness, a defect, a reason to hate her. She was relentlessly supportive and this just proved it, and god damn it, but she was having trouble finding a flaw in Dick Grayson as well.

“Let’s start over then,” Lena said, shaking Dick’s hand, “I’m Lena Luthor, pleased to meet you. Any friend of Kara’s is a friend of mine. You can call me Lena.”

“Dick Grayson,” he replied, “You can call me Dick. And seriously, the jokes aren’t worth it, I’ve heard them all.”

“I wasn’t going to make any.” Lena said, sitting down.

“I like you already,” Dick smiled, joining Kara and Lena at the table.

“So, how long have you known Kara?” Lena asked. Dick and Kara exchanged glances, mentally reaffirming the fake story he was going to tell.

“Just about 15 years.” Dick said, “As Kara said, Dr. Danvers used to work for Bruce at WayneTech, we were adopted around the same time. We bonded over having lost a family. It’s hard, but we were lucky enough to have each other.”

“We also bonded over a mutual love of cartoons.” Kara added.

“I was going to leave that part out to make myself sound cool, but ok,” Dick chuckled.

_ How does Kara have the best friends? _ Lena thought to herself.

“But what about you?” Dick asked Lena, “How did you guys meet?”

“She and Clark Kent walked into my office one day,” Lena reminisced, her eyes fogging over with the fond memory, “Demanding an interview-,”

“Hey! Don’t twist the facts!” Kara interjected, “You agreed to that interview!”

“I suppose that is true,” Lena felt her smile growing even larger, “from a certain point of view.”

Dick raised his glass of water towards Lena, “I understood that reference.”

“Anyway,” Lena continued, “In comes Clark Kent, famous reporter, and this young ray of sunshine, Kara Danvers. I knew of Mr. Kent, of course, he was a vocal critic of my brother, but Ms. Danvers here was an unknown to me,” Lena said, “But I expected Clark to be fair and he was, Kara, however, seemed to understand the position I was in. Living in the shadow of an almost mythical figure, trying to make a name for yourself, getting beyond the legacy of your family. Something you understand all too well, I assume, Mr. Grayson,” Dick nodded, “Well, she gave me a chance and we've been friends ever since.”

“Best friends.” Kara amended Lena’s story. Dick caught Lena looking at Kara, he knew what it was, he knew it because it was the same look he gave Barbara. The glance of love and longing with a tinge of sorrow at something you'll never have. The type of  smile that makes you cry.

Kara stood up. She seemed satisfied that Dick and Lena were becoming friends, and that she was comfortable with leaving for a minute.

“Okay, I have to go to the bathroom,” Kara said, “Lena, I trust you can order for me.”

“Of course, darling.” Lena said and Kara blushed. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Dick.

Kara trotted off to the bathroom leaving Lena and Dick in an uncomfortable silence.

“So… umm,” Lena said, clearly uncomfortable, “Where are you living now?”

“Blüdhaven,” Dick replied with the same apprehension, “I've been there for about a year now.”

“Sounds nice,” Lena said, avoiding eye contact.

“It has its charm.” Dick answered. They settled back into the uncomfortable silence until Dick finally decided he had to say something. “Look I wasn't going to say anything but I have bad impulse control and you clearly need to hear this.”

“I'm sorry?” Lena said, expecting Dick to start hitting on her.

“Kara.” Dick said, “You’re clearly head over heels for her.”

“I don't know wha-,” Lena started to say, then she trailed off.

“Yeah. It's pretty clear.” Dick said, “Don't worry, Kara’s smart... but she's pretty oblivious when it comes to people's feelings about her.”

“Look,” Lena’s face hardened, a certain venom in her voice, “I've already been told by James and Winn that the feeling isn't mutual, so spare me the patronizing act.”

“Look, I don't know Winn very well, but I know James, and he's pretty damn smart, but sometimes he can be a little stupid,” Dick responded, “and even so, both James and Winn thought that Kara had feelings for them, right?” Lena nodded, “and they were wrong. So they may not be the best authority on this.”

“Wait,” she hadn't expected this, “You're saying I have a shot?”

“A shot?” Dick asked, “Hell, I’d say she's just about as in love with you and you are with her.”

“It doesn't matter,” Lena said, her face fell.

“Why not?” he raised an eyebrow.

“She has a boyfriend.”

“Really?” This surprised him. He was a little offended that she hadn't told him, to be honest, but it wasn't like she was being completely honest to her either.

“Yeah.” Lena said, “Guy’s name is Mike. He's kind of a douche bag,” Dick opened his mouth, but Lena knew what he was going to say, “It's not just jealousy, I promise. If Kara were with James or Winn, I'd be okay. Well more okay.”

“Hey it's not like she's married?” He suggested, “You still have a chance. And I meant what I said,” Kara is making her back to them, “She really does love-,” he switches conversations halfway through the sentence, “He was so drunk that I couldn't understand what he was saying. Like I know five different languages and I couldn't make out a word he said. I don't think he was speaking human.”

“What is this all about?” Kara asks as she rejoins the table.

“Just regaling Lena with the tales of Gotham high society,” he explained, “comparing and contrasting it with Metropolis and National City.”

Kara smiled happy her two friends were getting along.

“Hello, my name is Rita, and I'll be your server today,” the waitress said as she approached their table, “Sorry for the wait, have you decided what you'd like to order?”

 

“It was nice re-meeting you, Mr. Grayson,” Lena said as they walked out of the restaurant.

“Yeah,” Lena held out her hand but he went in for a hug, she was surprised, but not unhappy. He whispered in her ear, “Don’t lose hope.” He let her go and said, “If you ever happen to be in Blüdhaven, give me a call,” he handed her his number, “I'd love to see you.”

“I will.”

Kara gave Lena a quick (by her standards) hug. “Call me tonight!” Kara said, “I want to make sure you're okay!”

“I will, Kara. I promise.” Lena said, before entering the limousine her driver had parked outside the restaurant. Kara continued to wave until Lena was out of view even with Kara’s microvision.

“So?” Kara asked, waiting to pounce with an ‘I told you so.’

“I liked her a lot,” Dick said, “But as I mentioned before the lunch, me liking her was never the issue. However, I am adult enough to admit when I’m wrong. It was a very pleasant meal. I’m glad you dragged me along.”

“Thank you.” Kara said, “How long are you in town?”

“I don’t really know, I hadn’t really planned that far ahead,” Dick said. Kara once again noticed that he was avoiding things.

“Alex would love to see you. James would too.” Kara said, “You know what, we should have a big dinner tonight, and then afterwards you and I can go on a patrol.”

“That sounds a lot of fun, I’d love to catch up with Alex and James,” Dick said, “Will J’onn be there? I haven’t seen him in a few years.”

“You know about J’onn?” Kara asked, “of course you know about J’onn. What don’t you know?”

“Well I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” he answered, “At least until Lena brought it up.”

“Really? She brought him up?” Kara said, “What did she say about him?”

“She just mentioned him in passing,” it wasn’t a total lie, “I didn’t press the issue.”

“Well you can meet him tonight,” Kara said, pulling out her phone. “I'm going to send everybody the invite now.”

 

Dick and Kara sat at the counter, playing cards and waiting for the super friends to arrive. There was a buzz in Dick’s back pocket. Kara recognized it as a phone vibration. Dick picked it up and stared at it for a second, then placed back in his pocket.

“What was that?” Kara asked.

“It's nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Dick replied, not looking at her.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Is there any other reas-.”

Ding-Dong

Kara rose from the chair, the inquisitive look still on her face, concern in her eyes. But that immediately faded when she began to open the door. She opened the door to see Alex and Maggie, holding a bottle of wine.

“I’m glad you came!” Kara said, hugging Alex and then Maggie.

“We’re always happy to be here, Kara,” Alex said.

“Especially when we can have alcohol,” Maggie added.

“Hey, Alex,” Dick stood up, smiling.

“Dick Grayson!” Alex said, “When Kara said an old friend was coming, I didn’t expect it to be you!”

“It’s nice to see you too, Alex,” he said, reaching for a hug. Alex happily reciprocated the hug.

“Who is this man?” Maggie asked Kara.

“This man is perfection personified,” Alex said, finally letting go of Dick.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Dick said, “I have a lot of issues. Many, many issues. Alex is really just overstating things.”

“He's just being modest,” Alex said.

“Maggie Sawyer, right?” He shook Maggie’s hand. She nodded. “So Alex is a DEO Agent, And you’re a cop?”

“Yep,” Maggie said, “I work in the science division,” there was a momentary pause, “Wait, how do you know about the DEO?”

“Oh I know everything about everybody,” Dick laughed, he made a gesture towards Kara, “including her sunny disposition.”

“That's a new one.” Alex said. “I've never heard it called that before.”

“I live to serve.” He took a slight bow.

“Hey,” Alex turned to Kara, “who else is coming tonight?”

“James and Winn should be here soon. Mon-El said he'd come after his shift at the bar,” Kara said, “And J’onn said he'd try to make it, but who knows?”

Ding-Dong

“That should be James and Winn,” Alex said, “I'll get the door.”

“Have you met Winn,” Kara asked, “I've forgotten.”

“I have not.” Dick replied.

“Dick Grayson?” A voice came from the doorway. “Is that really you?”

“James!” Dick shouted, pulling him into a hug, “it's good to see you, man.”

“Likewise,” James said, “How's Bruce?”

“Oh, you know,” Dick said, “The usual. Grumpy. But hey, how's Guardian?”

“It's great,” he said, “It’s nice being able to put my skills to good use.”

“Yeah,” Dick said, “I know what you mean. Hey if you ever want some advice from a pro, I'd be happy to help.”

“That would be great!” James said.

“Hi, I'm Winn,” Winn said, reaching out his hand, “I don't know who you are.”

“Dick Grayson,” He shook Winn’s hand, “I've heard a lot about you.”

“I have heard nothing about you,” Winn said, giving a side glance to Kara.

“He's Nightwing.” James said as Alex closed the door.

Winn’s eyes went wide.

“He's just going to be like that for a  minute,” James said. 

Ding-Dong

“I'll get it,” Dick said, feeling bad for what he had done to Winn. He opened the door to see a smiling Mon-El, who has brought a bouquet of cheap flowers.

“Who are you?” Mon-El asked instantly.

“He's a friend,” Kara said quickly, rushing to Dick’s side, “This is my boyfriend, Mon-El.”

“Kara?” Mon-El whispered, “Secret identity?” Dick chuckled.

“It's fine,” Kara said, “he knows everything.”

“Dick Grayson,” He held out his hand, “I'm an old friend of Kara’s.”

“Ha, Dick. Like a penis.” Mon-El laughed.

“Clever. Never heard that one before,” Dick said. “He’s got quite the wit.”

“Thank you, I came up with it myself,” Mon-El walked into the apartment, clearly not understanding Dick’s sarcasm.

“I bet you ten bucks that Mon-El will try to fight Dick in 15 minutes.” Maggie whispered to Alex.

“20 bucks. 5 minutes.” Alex whispers back.

“You're on, Danvers,” Maggie says shaking her girlfriend’s hand.

“Wait. Do you know Batgirl?” Winn asked all of a sudden.

“Yeah, we’re actually dating,” Dick said after a second pause.

“Hey, how’s Blüdhaven been?” James asked, realizing that Dick didn’t want to talk about this.

“It's been nice,” Dick said, “it's hard work, but it's very rewarding. I've been volunteering at a support group for ex-super-villains.”

“Why would you help super-villains?” Mon-El asked, “They're evil.”

“Mon-El!” Kara said, “That’s mean.”

“I'm just saying, these are people who commit crimes,” Mon-El said.

“It's fine,” Dick said, “It’s a common misconception that all super-villains are criminal masterminds. They're not all Sinestro and The Joker. Most of them are actually victims of circumstance. And they don't have opportunities once they get out of prison, so helping them stay afloat and getting them jobs is important. The best way to defeat a super-villain is to make sure they don't fall back into crime and become productive members of society. A lot of them have some really applicable skills. You should ask Detective Sawyer about how Lana Lang helped Atomic Skull give Metropolis free electricity.”

“Really?” Alex turned to Maggie, “you didn't tell me about that.”

“Well, it was Lana Lang that actually did it,” Maggie explained, “I just helped get her and Atomic Skull the authorization.”

“What do you do when you’re not helping criminals?” Mon-El demanded.

“Well, I go out at night and help put them in jail,” Dick explained, “I want the system to be fair for everyone. You wouldn’t necessarily know this, not having been on earth for very long, but a lot of cities have a great big organized crime problem. Most of these guys don’t have flashy costumes and codenames, so they go unnoticed by people like Superman or Wonder Woman, not that they’re not doing great work. It’s like treating a disease, you can’t just treat the symptoms you have to cure it as well, so I take both sides of the problem.”

“I see what you were saying,” Maggie whispered to Alex, “He really is perfection.”

“I told you,” Alex smiled.

“So you’re a superhero, like me and Kara,” Mon-El said.

“I would say I’m more of a vigilante,” Dick said, “I don’t have any powers, so…”

“So you’re a criminal?” Mon-El said. Kara put her head in her hands. James and Winn exchanged glances, as did Maggie and Alex.

“Five minutes.” Alex whispered to Maggie.

“I suppose that’s technically true.” Dick was taken aback.

“I’m sorry,” Mon-El said, “That was harsh.”

“It’s fine really,” Dick replied.

“What I really mean, is that there’s no use for you,” Mon-El said.

“Mon-El, that’s not an okay thing to-,” Kara starts, but Mon-El cuts her off.

“I’m just saying, with heroes like Me, Kara and Superman out there,” he said, “We don’t really need you people.”

“You people?” James said, “What do you mean, you people?”

“I mean powerless humans,” Mon-El explained, “Seriously,” he nods at Dick, “I could kick his ass any day of the week. Let me show you right here.”

“Seven minutes,” Alex whispers to Maggie, and Maggie pads her hand with a $20 bill.

“Dude, I’m not going to fight you,” Dick said, “Especially here. I don’t want to destroy Kara’s apartment.”

“Oh, you’re just being a p-,” Mon-El started, but he was cut off.

“Mon-El, I think you should leave.” Kara said, everybody turned to her. “Now.”

“Kara, I’m just-,” He said.

“Now.” More firmly this time.

“Fine.” Mon-El said, and with that he left, slamming the door behind him.

There was a pause, where nobody knew what to do, everybody was waiting for Kara to say something. The tension was palpable. Winn opened his mouth and closed it several times. He kept coming up with things to say and then thinking better of them.

“I'm sorry guys.” Kara finally said.

“It's fine, Kara,” Dick said, “he was probably just having a bad day. We all flip out sometimes.”

“No. It's not fine,” Kara said. A few tears began to crawl down her face.

“Yeah he does that kind of thing a lot,” Winn said. James and Alex sent glares his way, “Sorry, forget I said anything.”

“No. You're right.” Kara admitted, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” there was a pause, “anyway, let's get back to the party!”

“Yeah!” James said, the tension still hung in the air.

“Maggie,” Dick addressed the detective, “would you mind pouring me a glass of wine.”

“Yeah sure.” They both walked over to the kitchen. Maggie broke out the bottle and began pouring two glasses.

“Can I ask you something?” Dick says, after taking a sip.

“Of course.” Maggie answered.

“What's your read of Lena Luthor?” Dick asked, looking straight into Maggie's eyes.

“I don't know her too well,” Maggie started, “but she seems great. She and Kara get along really well.”

“That wasn't what I was asking and you know it,” Dick said.

“I don't know what you're saying,” Maggie responded. 

Dick looked around the room. Kara and Alex were talking to James about Cat Grant’s return, while Winn was texting somebody on his phone.

“Kara may be too oblivious and Alex may not want to see it,” Dick began, “but I know that you see it. We met back when you were in Gotham, and I know you're more than observant enough to see what's really going on there.”

“I'm sorry,” Maggie said, “But won't Kara hear this conversation?”

“In my experience,” Dick said, “People with super-hearing only hear what they want to. It's a subconscious thing. So go on.”

“Yeah,” Maggie sighs, “Lena definitely has feelings for Little Danvers.” Dick had trouble stifling a laugh.

“That's amateur hour detective,” Dick said, “look, I'm probably overstepping my bounds in numerous ways, but I went to lunch with Kara and Lena today, and the sexual tension in that room was incredible. And not just that, but their relationship was healthy. I mean they made each other better and more confident. They cared about each other, and that,” he makes a gesture behind him, “was anything but healthy.”

“You think that Kara Danvers, you think that Superman’s cousin is in love Lex Luthor’s sister? And that the feeling is mutual?” Maggie asked.

“Yes,” Dick said, “and I think you do too.” Dick took another sip of wine. “Also my fragile male ego wants you to know that I would have kicked Mon-El’s ass.”

“I would love to see that.” Maggie said, “Honestly I don't know what she sees in him.”

“What does Alex think?” Dick asked, “Out of curiosity, more than anything.”

“I don't know,” Maggie said, “I mean she did bet on him trying to fight you.”

“Oh yeah,” Dick said, “Sorry you lost 20 bucks on that.”

“Damn, you really do know everything,” Maggie laughed.

“I knew I liked you when I first met you,” Dick said.

“Oh my god,” Maggie realized she had met him before, all those years ago, “It has been a long time.”

“Wait, how long have you guys known each other?” Alex came over and poured herself a glass.

“I met her about 12 years ago,” Dick said, “back when she was a beat cop in Gotham and I was still Robin.”

“Damn,” Alex said, “So you met both Maggie and Kara before I did?”

“Sorry,” Dick said.

“It's fine,” Alex said, “I still think you're perfect.”

“And I still think you're wrong,” Dick laughed.

 

“That was a lot of fun,” Winn said, leaning back after the dinner was done, “I still can't believe you were the one who solved the Cluemaster’s code.”

“Yeah, that was me,” Dick said, “Took a damn long time though.”

“I was working on that for the better part of a year,” Winn laughed, “how did you solve it? What was it that made it all click into place?”

“Actually,” Dick made a gesture towards Kara, “it was a conversation with Kara that gave me the idea.”

“Really?” James asked.

“Yeah,” Kara said, “I don't remember what we were talking about, but I remember that we were talking on the phone and I said something, then there was silence on your end. I was waiting. I thought that there something wrong, and then you shouted “I figured it out! I've got to go, by.” I was kind of offended to be honest.”

“Sorry about that,” Dick laughed.

“It's fine,” Kara said, “you really have to stop apologizing for that.”

“Sorry,” Dick said again.

“Hey!” Kara shouted, “You did that one just to piss me off!”

“I plead the fifth,” Dick smiled.

“I missed you, Grayson,” Kara said after a moment.

“I missed you, too, Danvers,” Dick replied. They settled into a more comfortable silence. Dick’s phone buzzed, he took a look at it and then put it away. Only Maggie and Kara noticed this. He pulled it back out again, and sighed. “Well, I have to go. Winn, it was nice meeting you, Maggie, James, Alex, it was nice seeing you again,” Kara stood up and pulled Dick into a hug, “Kara, as always it was amazing.”

“No! Where do you have to go!” Winn’s face fell immediately.

“I have an illegal auction to bust up,” Dick said, “Kobra is selling Venom to somebody in National City. I have about twenty minutes to get to the docks. I want to get there at least an hour before so I can case the place and in case they get there early.”

“Why doesn’t Kara join you?” Maggie said, everybody turned to look at her, “I’m not saying you need help, but two heroes are always better than one, right?”

“I’m fine with it if you are,” Dick said to Kara.

“Yeah sure,” Kara said, “I mean I’ll have to do the dishes first but, it’s fine.”

“No, we can take care of that,” Maggie said, turning to Alex, “Alex and I can do that it’s fine.”

“Yeah, fine,” Alex looked at Maggie, befuddled. Maggie raised her eyebrows at Alex, “Yes of course, we’d love to help out.”

“If you guys are sure…,” Kara said.

“Yes of course,” Maggie said, “Winn and James can help too.”

“What, huh? I don’t think-,” Winn was cut off by a glare from Maggie and Alex, “Yes, of course. Please don’t kill me.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Kara said, leading Dick out of the apartment, “I’ll show you the perfect place to change.” Kara turned her head slightly as she walked out the doorway, “Remember to lock up please!”

“Kara, I lock this place more than you do!” Alex shouted after her sister. After Dick and Kara were out of earshot, Alex turned back to Maggie, “What was that about?”

“They have some things that they need to talk about,” Maggie said as she began clearing the table.

“Like what?” Alex asked.

“You know, sometimes I question how good of a secret agent you really are,” Maggie responded, “If you can’t see the romantic feelings your sister is having.”

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked again.

“Oh my god,” Maggie sighed, “Kara Danvers, your sister, has very gay feelings for Lena Luthor.” Alex stood still for a second. James and Winn were listening to every word of the conversation, but purposely acting like they heard nothing.

“So that’s what you and Dick were talking about,” Alex mused aloud.

“Yep.”

 

Nightwing crouched down on the rooftop, looking through binoculars at the docks while Supergirl paced back and forth behind him.

“You know,” Nightwing said, not taking his eyes off of the docks, “If you walk any faster, they’ll hear you.”

“Sorry,” Kara said, “I’m just anxious.”

Nightwing put the binoculars down.

“We’ll be fine,” Nightwing said, “They haven’t taken the Venom yet, so beating them should be pretty easy.”

“It’s not that,” Kara said. She paused for a second looking at Dick, “You didn’t like Mon-El, did you?”

“No, not particularly,” Dick said earnestly, “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you like him.”

“I don’t.” Kara said after a second, “I feel like I should. I mean I’m an alien from a dead planet, he’s an alien from a dead planet. We’re both more powerful here, but we’re constantly arguing, and not in a good way like Alex and I do, it’s more personal and harmful. And he can never trust me to do something right. He’s always criticizing me. He once told me I was selfish and self-righteous. And I can’t stop comparing my relationship with him to my friendship with Lena, and every time I do, I realize that Lena is so much of a better person to me. I mean, when I first met her, she was making an alien detection device. I explained to her why I thought that was terrible, and she actually listened to me. She cancelled a device that could have made L-Corp billions of dollars because  _ I _ told her that I thought it was offensive and dangerous.” Kara sat down, legs bent up, putting her arms around her knees. Dick sat down next to her, looking deep into her eyes through his domino mask. “James doesn’t like him. Winn tolerates him. I don’t think J’onn likes him, but I honestly can’t tell. Maggie’s not a huge fan.”

“Alex?”

“I don’t know,” Kara said, “She told me to give him a chance, but I really don’t know.”

“What do you mean, she told you to give him a chance?” Dick asked.

“He asked me out,” Kara explained, “I said no. I told him I didn’t feel that way about him. Then we kissed when he was dying after Cadmus released Medusa, but he said he didn’t remember it after he woke up. Alex said I should give him a chance to prove himself.”

Dick sighed for a second, then put his hand on Kara’s shoulder, bringing her into a hug.

“Every time he does something terrible,” Kara said into Dick’s shoulder, “He comes back and apologizes and I forget why I was ever mad at him.”

Kara sighed for a second. There was a long pause where neither of them said anything. Kara was waiting for him to say something, but he wanted to her to keep talking, to go through the motions herself.

“And I think the worst part is that I know,” Kara said, “I know that I don’t love him, but I thought I could grow to love him. But after tonight, after the way he reacted to you just being there. To what you do in your life, to who you are, I know that I can’t grow to love him without giving up on who I am. And I know that love changes you, and should, but this love is making me worse, making me into a person that I don’t like.”

“And what about Lena?” Dick asked.

“What about her?”

“You mentioned her in contrast to Mon-El,” Dick explained, “I’m just trying to understand why you did that.”

“I don’t know,” Kara said, “I don’t know why I did that. I started out wary of her, I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect some beautiful, charming, intelligent, strong, gentle, caring woman who actually listened to and appreciated me. Do you not like her?”

“No,” Dick said, simply, “I love her, I think she’s fantastic.”

Kara smiled at him, a little of the usual glow returning to her face.

“Yeah,” Kara said, “I want to tell her my secret, but I don’t know that I can. It has nothing to do with her family or her genetics, but I want to protect her.”

“Look, you know that I’ve never had secret identity issues,” Dick said, “Because all the people that I’ve ever really been friends with were also super-heroes. But, that being said, I think you can trust her. And I think she’s ready.

“Do you think _ I’m _ ready?” Kara asked.

“Hell yes,” Dick answered.

“I just don’t want her to hate me,” Kara said, “She’s the best person I’ve ever met and I want her to care about me and to love me, and I fear that she’s going to reject me.”

“She’s not going to,” Dick said, “I promise. But I do think you need to break-up with Mon-El before you talk to her.”

“Yeah, you’re probably-,” Kara started but she was cut off by Nightwing.

“They’re here.”

 

“Do you want me to come up with you?” Dick asked. It was a few hours later. Nightwing and Supergirl had stopped the auction, taking down a few of Kobra’s cultists as well as several agents of Cadmus. Now they stood outside of the alien bar, where Kara was about to go inside and break-up with Mon-El.

“No,” Kara said firmly, “I got this. Though, if I’m not out in 15 minutes, come in and make sure I’m okay.

“Will do,” Dick nodded, “You got this Kara.”

Dick stood there for a few minutes, checking his watch every couple of seconds. Now it was his turn to be restless. After a few minutes as he watched aliens coming and going inside the bar, each with a different level of sobriety, Kara came walking, looking like a wave of relief had just washed over her.

“How did it go?” Dick asked.

“He took it better than I thought,” Kara said, “Can we go talk to Lena now?”

“Yeah sure, do you want in costume or out of costume?” Dick asked.

“Let’s do in costume,” Kara said, “And for this one, I would like you there.”

 

Lena Luthor was working late in her office. It didn’t matter that it was a Saturday, she had to be there. It had been a hard day, but lunch with Kara and her friend really helped. She hadn’t expected Dick to be that nice to her, that genuinely nice to her. What she really hadn’t expected was for him to tell her that Kara was in love with her. It made her want to hope that maybe one day it would come true. She had a boyfriend. And that wouldn’t change anytime soon, or at least she believed.

She stared at the computer reading the same line of a news report over and over again. She sighed, closed her eyes and leaned back. Something was wrong, she opened her eyes and looked to her right. There knelt a man in black and blue armor, Nightwing.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lena shouted, “How did you get here?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Nightwing said, “I’m just here for moral support.”

“Moral support for what?” Lena asked.

“Hi, Lena,” Lena looked behind her to see Supergirl floating down onto her balcony, “I need to talk to you.”

“Supergirl,” Lena said, standing up, straightening out her skirt, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You,” Supergirl said, landing on the balcony, beginning to walk slowly towards Lena, “I need to talk to you. I need to confess something.”

“Okay,” Lena paused, she wasn’t sure where this was going. Kara honestly wasn’t sure what she was about to say.

“Lena, I love you.” That was not what Kara expected to say, and that was certainly not what Lena expected her to say.

“I’m sorry?” Lena said, still not honestly sure she had heard what she thought she had heard.

“I love you,” Kara said again, “I’m sorry… that wasn’t what I was going to say. But it’s true.”

“Okay, well…,” Lena said, incredibly taken aback, incredibly confused. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Supergirl was attractive, quite the opposite, but her feelings were for the reporter Kara Danvers, not the Girl of Steel, “let’s start with what you were going to say, and then we’ll loop back to that first thing.”

Kara took a short glance at Nightwing, he nodded at her with a small smile.

“I’m Kara,” Supergirl said to Lena, “Kara Danvers. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I didn’t know how to tell you, I didn’t want you to reject me, I just cared too much about you. And then as I stood here, I realized I loved you. I just broke up with my boyfriend and I don’t know if it’s healthy for me to get into a relationship this quickly, or even if you want to, I’m sorry, I’m rambling.”

“Kara, I… I…,” Lena stuttered, “I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, “I shouldn’t have said anything.” She began to turn away.

“No,” Lena said, “Don’t go. Kara. I love you, too. I just… I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Kara turns and flings her arms around Lena, tears streaming down her face. But they weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. They had finally found each other, really found each other.

 

Dick and Kara were back in her apartment, watching The Way, Way Back and eating ice cream. They hadn’t said much to each other, but Kara was happy and Dick was happy for her.

“You knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?” Kara said after about half an hour of the movie.

“I’m sorry?” Dick said.

“You knew I was going to profess my love for Lena Luthor,” Kara said, “Even though I didn’t know I was going to, even though I didn’t know I loved her.”

“I…,” Dick began and trailed off, and then began again, “I knew that you loved her and I definitely knew that she loved you, and I was pretty sure that was going to happen.”

“How?” Kara asked, “How could you possibly know that?”

“I’m a student of human character,” Dick answered, “I watched the way you looked at her at lunch, and I watched the way she looked at you. It was pretty clear. And then after what went down at dinner and a short conversation with Detective Sawyer, my suspicions were confirmed.”

“Okay,” Kara said, “But I’m going to ask you something and I want you to answer me honestly,” Dick nodded, “Why did you really come here?”

“I told you,” Dick said, “It was the Venom shipment.”

“Yeah,” Kara said, “But you could have just tipped me off about that. You didn’t come all the way here just to punch some goons, you could have done that in Blüdhaven.”

“I proposed,” Dick said after a moment, “I proposed to Barbara.”

“Oh,” Kara said, “Oh. What did she say?”

“I don’t know.” Dick answered, “She said she didn’t know. I had planned it so that she would say yes, and then I would leave to come here. But she said she didn’t know, and I just left. I just left her standing there and I came all the way here.”

“So that’s who’s been texting you this whole time,” Kara said, “Barbara’s been trying to get a hold of you,” Dick nodded, “Why don’t you answer them?”

“Because I can’t bare to read them,” Dick admitted, “I just see her name and then I can’t do anything.”

Ding-dong

“Do people just show up at your house?” Dick asked, trying to get the subject off of his rapidly failing love life.

“You did.” Kara countered.

“I suppose that’s not untrue,” Dick said, shrugging.

“Umm,” Kara said, “It’s for you.”

Dick got up from the couch and walked toward the open doorway to see Barbara Gordon.

“Babs,” Dick said, “Why… what are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering my texts or calls,” Barbara said, “I had to make sure you were okay.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I may or may not have called her when you were in the bathroom changing,” Kara said with a sheepish smile, “What? You helped me, I figured I’d help you.” Dick and Barbara were staring at each other, “I’m going to umm do a lap around the city, you guys make yourselves comfortable.”

Kara flew off leaving Dick and Barbara in her apartment, alone. Barbara stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her.

“Dick,” Barbara said, “what happened?”

“When,” Dick started, “When you said you didn’t know, I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t handle looking at your face even, and I knew you would need time to make the decision and I was already going here, so I just had to leave. I’m so sorry.”

“Dick,” Barbara put her hand on Dick’s cheek, “I love you, you know that right. I just wasn’t ready for it. Or, well… no I was just surprised. You surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“What do you want to do?” Dick asked her. Barbara knelt down one knee, simultaneously taking something out of her front pocket.

“I want you to marry me,” Barbara said, holding the same ring he had proposed with just over 24 hours earlier. Dick knelt down and kissed her.

“Of course,” he said, “of course I’ll marry you.”

They both lay down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, holding hands, and just smiling. This went on for a few long moments that felt like nothing. They wanted this to last forever, but they both knew it wouldn’t. Barbara was the first to break the silence.

“It was pretty nice of Kara to do this for you,” Barbara said.

“Yeah, well,” Dick said, “I may, or may not, have just done the same thing for her.”

“Really?” she said, “Kara’s engaged?”

“No, but she is dating someone who actually loves her now,” Dick said, “And you would never guess who.”

“You got Kara and Lena to finally admit they’re in love with each other?” Barbara asked, Dick looked over, both eyebrows raised in amazement, “What? I follow Kara on Instagram, it’s pretty obvious.”

“God, I keep forgetting you’re smarter than me,” Dick said, pressing a kiss to Barbara’s cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You’d be dead several dozen times over if it weren’t for me,” Barbara said, “And so would I if it weren’t for you.”

“Holy declaration of love, Batgirl.”

Kara Danvers may be a reporter and a superhero, but she considered herself a friend first, and she was a damn good friend.

Dedicated to Adam West: The Original Batman  
R.I.P.


End file.
